Colin Wilson, so silky. #Preds #NSHvsANAhttps://t.co/LzYRlvv3DR
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) April 28, 2016
The Nashville Predators took a bite out of the Anaheim Ducks' playoff hopes by scoring first in Game 7 on Wednesday.
The tally came courtesy of Colin Wilson, who went backhand shelf to beat a sprawling Frederik Andersen.
The goal was Wilson's second of the playoffs.
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TAMPA, Fla. - Shane Prince scored twice during a three-goal first period and John Tavares had a goal and an assist in the New York Islanders' 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.
Taking up where he left off in helping the Islanders advance beyond the first round for the first time in 23 years, Tavares assisted on Travis Hamonic's goal that erased an early deficit and later scored his sixth postseason goal on a blistering shot from the left circle to give New York a 4-1 lead midway through the second.
The Islanders needed overtime to get three of four victories against the Florida Panthers in the opening round. This one was never seriously in doubt after New York wiped out the 1-0 lead Tampa Bay took on Ondrel Palat's goal just over three minutes into the game.
Tampa Bay pulled to 4-3 on third-period goals by Nikita Kucherov and Valtteri Filppula before Cal Clutterbuck's empty-netter sealed the victory in the final minute.
Thomas Greiss, who won one game in overtime and two in double overtime against Florida, finished with 33 saves for the Islanders. They were outshot 28-10 over the last two periods.
Game 2 is Saturday at Amalie Arena.
Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was superb in allowing no more than two goals in any of Tampa Bay's five games against Detroit in the opening round, but he yielded four in 13 shots to the Islanders before replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Tampa Bay entered the series following a six-day layoff, but the benefit of the extended rest was debatable after the Islanders overcame the early deficit to take a two-goal lead into the first intermission.
Prince scored twice in the final 2:32 of the opening period, camping out alone in front of the net to deflect a pass from Strome through Bishop at 17:28 and beating the Vezina Trophy finalist again with a wrist shot from the right circle with 2.1 seconds remaining .
New York built the 3-1 lead despite failing to take advantage of its first two power play opportunities. Given a third chance with a man-advantage, the Islanders struck with Tavares to make it 4-1.
That ended Bishop's night.
Notes: Islanders coach Jack Capuano took a puck to the face during the third period, but returned to the bench before the end of the game. ... The Islanders' three-goal opening period ended Bishop's streak of allowing two or fewer goals in eight consecutive playoff games, dating to last year. New York C Josh Bailey did not play after leaving the team's first-round clinching victory with an upper body injury. ... The Lightning are still without injured captain Steven Stamkos, D Anton Stralman and RW J.T. Brown.
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Jack Capuano took a deflected puck to the face, left the bench with a towel on his face pic.twitter.com/SgIp2PH8aC
— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) April 28, 2016
No one is safe in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
To wit, New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano was forced to vacate the bench after taking an errant puck to the face during Wednesday's Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The puck deflected off the shin pad of Ryan Strome and rocketed towards the bench.
Jack Capuano gets hit with a puck on the bench pic.twitter.com/ODPAgdNWWv
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 28, 2016
Assistant coach Doug Weight assumed head duties in Capuano's absence, but the bench boss was able to return after receiving attention in the locker room.
Capuano back on bench with a cut on nose and a shiner.
— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) April 28, 2016
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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for Ben Bishop.
Not long after being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, the Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender was yanked from Wednesday's Game 1 against the New York Islanders.
Related: Bishop, Holtby, Quick named Vezina Trophy finalists
Bishop allowed four goals on 13 shots - two of which were scored late in the first by Shane Prince - before being replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy.
In five games during a first-round series win over Detroit, Bishop posted a save percentage of .950.
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The artist known as Shane Prince is putting on a show.
The New York Islanders center scored a pair of first-period goals in rapid succession during Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.
Prince tapped in his first of the game on a pass by Ryan Strome to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead late in the opening frame.
(Courtesy: NHL.com)
Two minutes and 29 seconds later, Prince scored from the faceoff circle on another one-timer before the period expired.
Prince became the first Islanders player to score two first-period goals in a playoff game since Mike Bossy in 1985.
He was traded to New York by the Ottawa Senators on deadline day, along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a third-round selection.
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New York Islanders bruiser Casey Cizikas made it his mission to set the tone early.
Unfortunately for Lightning forward Erik Condra, he was the victim.
Condra was escorted to the Tampa Bay dressing room, clearly dazed by the collision.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning have drawn first blood in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
At the 3:05 mark of the first period, Ondrej Palat blasted a one-timer past Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders to open the scoring in Game 1. Jonathan Drouin recorded the primary assist, his fifth helper in six playoff games.
The goal was Palat's second of the postseason.
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